platinumtt:
Hello Professionals,

Please help. I just bought an AMAC land. The seller told me to get a power of attorney document for him to sign. When I asked about deed of assignment, he said he has no information as he is not used to that. In Lagos, we do get deed of assignment after buying a plot of land as this is a very important document. Could someone explain power of attorney and deed of assignment issue as it impacts buying of land in Abuja.

http://www.naijalandproperties.com/community/fct-abuja-3/what-is-the-difference-between-power-of-attorney-and-deed-of-assignment/

KingTom:
Na Klepto? Abi dem do am from village

Be like say na from village o

law001:


Let me try and explain in a layman language.

Title to land in Abuja belongs to the original allotee, i.e. the first person who registered the land with AGIS (Abuja Geographical Information System)

The only person recognised by Govt is the original allotee.
(land generally belongs to the governor of a state,and in Abuja, the FCT minister)

Once a land has been registered in the name of the original allotee, it can never be changed again unless the title is revoked... that is to say, a subsequent buyer's name will not appear on the title.

Now when you want to buy from the original allotee, and you want your name to appear on the data system of AGIS, you MUST present a Power of Attorney.

The essence it to tell government that, the original allotee has given you the right to do whatever he would have done on the land.

Then the deed of assignment is to show that there is a transfer of interest in the land.

When you successfully register both with AGIS, your name will be captured in the data system as the agent of the real owner known by the government.

Before now, once you buy a land in Abj, you can go ahead to acquire a C Of O... but this resulted in fraud hence this new system which has drastically reduced fraud.

Donnyperry:


Ogbeni Kilode!!! You had to go as far as embarking on a lengthy research solely for the purpose of receiving validation. Why try so hard to sound intelligent on Cyber Space?? This is sincerely uncalled for.

Initially, you started out by rubbishing the efforts of my colleagues who made impeccable attempts in differentiating between a “Power of Attorney” and a “Deed of Assignment”. Meanwhile your stint at making a clear distinction was awful. Rather than focusing on the subject matter, you resorted to laying ambush on my use of words and the context it ought to be used. So petty of you, i must say.

Gentleman, am i in any competition with you?? The balderdash you are spewing is totally uncalled for. Enough of this

danyel09:
Be like say na from village o

KingTom:
chai

Peritus:


I will advise you not just as a lawyer, but as a property law practitioner. You see, even if you are collecting deed of assignment, make sure that you have power of attorney. Many have told u that it doesn't transfer title. Yes, but it does a better work than transfer of title. For a deed of assignment to be valid, there must be consent (in Abuja, by the minister for FCT). Getting a ministerial consent takes time. It can take up to a year.
Now, somebody can transfer all his power (right) over a property via power of attorney and equally foreclose his own right. He can give u power to sell to anybody and to urself. He can also donate to u power to collect any compensation upon revocation of title. What it means is that he can no longer act on the property, and ur powers are irrevocable. Here, the property in real sense belongs to u without u going through the huddles of regularization or registration.
Once consent is not obtained, ur Deed of Assignment becomes a love letter, and no transfer is deemed in law. POA is very necessary, and to me more important than DOA if well couched by a good lawyer.

gommex:
Av gone thru d whole thread, can a lawyer successful and fraudulently transfer ownership of a house to his simply because he has prepared a POA to act on behalf of d landlord to eject d landlord,s tenant and also represent d landlord in his absence at court since d landlord is based in another state

aribisala0:
With respect ,what you have written, does not make a lot of sense. First of all that only one C of O is issued is true in other places NOT only Abuja. So there is nothing n the explanation you have given that explains why Abuja is special

Secondly Power of attorney does not give "RIGHTS" it gives authority or power it is in no way a deed of assignment or transfer of ownership
The transaction that is taking place is a sale and power of attorney DOES NOT COME into it at all. How many Powers of authority need to signed every time the property changes hands ? What about if the original allottee is demised or otherwise unavailable.
Also Land does not "BELONG" to governors that is a complete misunderstanding.
Your explanation is weak and watery, I am sorry.

enygmababe:
@aribisala0, I wonder why you are actively trying to rubbish the effort of the lawyers who have taken pains to enlighten the op.

All they/we did was to restrict our answer regarding the POA to transfer of title in land because that is what op needs.

However, you have abandoned the issue and decided to rain insults on Donnyperry personally and lawyers generally.

I must confess that it seems you have been deeply hurt by a lawyer. Whoever he/ she is...I crave your indulgence...










Please, forgive and forget.

aribisala0:
hehehe
NO I love lawyers actually ,I have many in my family and I employ at least two. I particularly resent the Nigerian variety of lawyer. Our legal system is based on the British or more accurately the English legal system. I have interacted with lawyers in England and other Commonwealth countries and still do till tomorrow.That is the standard that I compare with.
The fact is Nigerian lawyers live in the 18th century with a lot of outdated bombast and ultimately at the lower levels are worse than useless. For you to get any value out of a Nigerian lawyer he or she must have well over 10 years experience after getting a law degree and going to law school. They cannot speak proper English most of the time and will cost you a lot of money if you trust simple tasks to them.

Do you know that in England you do not have to have a law degree to become a solicitor? Still a solicitor with two years experience is worth all the money.This is not a matter or race. It was not like that in Nigeria 30 years ago
I have to work with lawyers virtually every day so sentiments do not come into it. I employ full time and also contract others in and out of Nigeria. My observation is Nigerian lawyers are quite often a waste of money. If you give them a job such as drafting a conveyance agreement be sure to read it over because most likely it is a cut and paste that you could have done yourself

Maybe because the judiciary is so corrupt in Nigeria and success does not depend on hard work or some other reason,I can only speculate all I can say is Nigerian lawyers are very poor

Back to the subject whether or not I love or hate them can you deal with any of the issues I have raised on its merits? Am I right or wrong?

Imagine the rubbish that clown wrote about power of attorney in Abuja!!

aribisala0:
With respect ,what you have written, does not make a lot of sense. First of all that only one C of O is issued is true in other places NOT only Abuja. So there is nothing n the explanation you have given that explains why Abuja is special

Secondly Power of attorney does not give "RIGHTS" it gives authority or power it is in no way a deed of assignment or transfer of ownership
The transaction that is taking place is a sale and power of attorney DOES NOT COME into it at all. How many Powers of authority need to signed every time the property changes hands ? What about if the original allottee is demised or otherwise unavailable.
Also Land does not "BELONG" to governors that is a complete misunderstanding.
Your explanation is weak and watery, I am sorry.

aribisala0:
hehehe
NO I love lawyers actually ,I have many in my family and I employ at least two. I particularly resent the Nigerian variety of lawyer. Our legal system is based on the British or more accurately the English legal system. I have interacted with lawyers in England and other Commonwealth countries and still do till tomorrow.That is the standard that I compare with.
The fact is Nigerian lawyers live in the 18th century with a lot of outdated bombast and ultimately at the lower levels are worse than useless. For you to get any value out of a Nigerian lawyer he or she must have well over 10 years experience after getting a law degree and going to law school. They cannot speak proper English most of the time and will cost you a lot of money if you trust simple tasks to them.

Do you know that in England you do not have to have a law degree to become a solicitor? Still a solicitor with two years experience is worth all the money.This is not a matter or race. It was not like that in Nigeria 30 years ago
I have to work with lawyers virtually every day so sentiments do not come into it. I employ full time and also contract others in and out of Nigeria. My observation is Nigerian lawyers are quite often a waste of money. If you give them a job such as drafting a conveyance agreement be sure to read it over because most likely it is a cut and paste that you could have done yourself

Maybe because the judiciary is so corrupt in Nigeria and success does not depend on hard work or some other reason,I can only speculate all I can say is Nigerian lawyers are very poor

Back to the subject whether or not I love or hate them can you deal with any of the issues I have raised on its merits? Am I right or wrong?

Imagine the rubbish that clown wrote about power of attorney in Abuja!!

aribisala0:
SMH

law001:


On a second thought, I need to respond to your assertions.

*Sec 1 of the Land Use Act provides inter alia "Subject to the provisions of this Act, all land comprised in the territory of each State in the Federation are hereby vested in the Governor of that State and such land shall be held in trust and administered for the use and common benefit of all Nigerians in accordance with the provisions of this Act".

*WHEN A POWER OF ATTORNEY WILL BE A REGISTRABLE INSTRUMENT
1. It gives POWER TO THE DONEE to deal with an interest in land  
2. It is defined in the land Instrument Registration Law of a State as registrable
3. It is endorsed on any document transferring land i.e. a Deed of Assignment.  
S. 84& 85 of the Registration of Titles Law of Lagos State.


I repeat, for a sale of land to be successful under AGIS, there must be a Power of Attorney together with the Deed transferring title. Which will be registered for a fee.

Go to AGIS and make your findings Sir.

I repeat, for a sale of land to be successful under AGIS, there must be a Power of Attorney together with the Deed transferring title. Which will be registered for a fee.

Go to AGIS and make your findings Sir.

aribisala0:

On a point of logic your conclusion does not derive from your preamble.
you are adding 1 and 1 to make 4 . There is no connection between the intro and the end,faulty reasoning.

There is no reason for me to argue the points of law with you,you will not persuade me and I will not persuade you besides to what end are we arguing, who gains?
I will work on my punctuation

Kay17:


Does a power of attorney transfer interest in land?

Doesnt a deed of assignment convey the remainder or residue of the term the original allottee had?

Does the AGIS recognize the transfer of land from the original allotte to an assignee?

Is a fresh C of O issued to the new assignee?

aribisala0:
hehehe
NO I love lawyers actually ,I have many in my family and I employ at least two. I particularly resent the Nigerian variety of lawyer. Our legal system is based on the British or more accurately the English legal system. I have interacted with lawyers in England and other Commonwealth countries and still do till tomorrow.That is the standard that I compare with.
The fact is Nigerian lawyers live in the 18th century with a lot of outdated bombast and ultimately at the lower levels are worse than useless. For you to get any value out of a Nigerian lawyer he or she must have well over 10 years experience after getting a law degree and going to law school. They cannot speak proper English most of the time and will cost you a lot of money if you trust simple tasks to them.

Do you know that in England you do not have to have a law degree to become a solicitor? Still a solicitor with two years experience is worth all the money.This is not a matter or race. It was not like that in Nigeria 30 years ago
I have to work with lawyers virtually every day so sentiments do not come into it. I employ full time and also contract others in and out of Nigeria. My observation is Nigerian lawyers are quite often a waste of money. If you give them a job such as drafting a conveyance agreement be sure to read it over because most likely it is a cut and paste that you could have done yourself

Maybe because the judiciary is so corrupt in Nigeria and success does not depend on hard work or some other reason,I can only speculate all I can say is Nigerian lawyers are very poor

Back to the subject whether or not I love or hate them can you deal with any of the issues I have raised on its merits? Am I right or wrong?

Imagine the rubbish that clown wrote about power of attorney in Abuja!!

enygmababe:


Where do I start to answer the issues you have raised? They are kind of fused but let me give it a shot!

The barrister and solicitors in England bill per hour. They are not paid 15,000 at the end of the month sometimes without appearance fees and with insults as an allowance. The Nigerian lawyer is not appreciated. The Nigerian will prefer to give 10% commission to the agent who directs him to a property than to give 10% to the Lawyer whose duty it is to conduct a search and ensure that the buyer has a good title on purchase. The Nigerian would prefer to go to a letter writter or computer center to have an agreement 'carpentered' for him.

The overall attitude of disrespect and underappreciation directed at the Nigerian Lawyer is responsible for the cut and paste syndrome. If we get value for our services am sure my colleagues will ensure that we put in the required effort.

There are a lot of short cuts taken by the average Nigerian lawyer but I believe that it is not enough to warrant the disdain and apathy you bestow upon us. An attempt to compare the British and Nigerian lawyer will NEVER be equitable because they work under different conditions of service. Bring the British solicitor or Barrister to Nigerian for just one year and you would be stunned beyond speechless.

The truth is that your attack was unwarranted. There are a lot of engineers like you but I am also willing to bet that not all Nigerian engineers are conscientious and hard working and you will feel hurt if someone starts to bash you simply because of his/ her experiences with another or indeed other engineer(s)

I cannot speak for all the lawyers as regards their personal attitude but I can assure you that my reputation means a lot to me. I prefer to have the reputation of a lawyer who does her job asap rather than one who delays cases by way of adjournments simply to collect appearance fees. Just as there are lots of market women in the market selling a variety of wares in the same way there are several lawyers and a litigant need a to be wise and search for one that suits their purposes.

By the way, if you check my first post on this topic you will see my allusion to jurisdictions where by practice of lawyers POAs are used to transfer title in a bid to circumvent certain taxes and bureaucracy. Well, the Abuja based poster who spoke about POA was speaking from experience. I remember being taught about that in Abuja law school. I did not pay it much of a mind cos I really only need to focus on the practice in my jurisdiction as I will likely never get a brief from that jurisdiction.

By the way, there is a saying that 'God forbid that a lawyer should know all the LAW. He just needs to know where to find it' All the advice on this thread by lawyers were not paid for. In England before getting advice from a solicitrr, you will pay consultation fee right?


Oh and by the way....I am 10 years post call.

MrMcJay:


If there is a clause in the POA duly executed by the Donor (owner of the house) authorising the lawyer to sell the property, the lawyer can validly sell such property.

platinumtt:
As copied from http://www.naijalandproperties.com/community/fct-abuja-3/what-is-the-difference-between-power-of-attorney-and-deed-of-assignment/

Popularly,a power of attorney is a document that gives another person the power to utilize or carry out activities as stipulated in content.It could be ordinary or irrevocable power of attorney. The extent of what an agent can do for the principal are usually stated in the POA.
While the deed of assignment is a document executed/signed by both parties to transfer the title of one to another. both Deed of Assignment and Power of attorney are both instruments for transfer of title. You only need to know which particular document is being used as the instrument in that area.
Now, let us move to Abuja FCT.
For a deed of assignment to be effectivie, you must back it up with consent from FCT Minister. ofcourse, this is not easily available as it could take up to one year or more. It is possible for somebody to transfer all his title with irrevocable POA. Especially, at AGIS, you MUST present a Power of Attorney if you are not the original allotee for proper documentation.